The Major League Baseball market for power-hitting first baseman closed rapidly toward the end of 2024. Former National League MVP Paul Goldschmidt signed with the New York Yankees. Gold Glover Nathaniel Lowe moved via trade from the Texas Rangers to the Washington Nationals. The Cleveland Guardians dealt All-Star Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But the most prominent first baseman to enter free agency after last season is still on the market. That would be Mets slugger Pete Alonso, who in 2019 won NL Rookie of the Year while belting 53 home runs, making him one of only three players to top the 50-home run mark in the past decade, along with New York Yankees Aaron Judge, who has done it three times, and Giancarlo Stanton.
The Mets have been considered the favorites to sign Alonso, who has spent his whole career with the Flushing Meadows club. According to media reports, both Alonso and the Mets are willing to sign a three-year contract with a presumably high average annual value. But they have not been able to agree on specific terms.
Now, the Mets are getting tired of waiting and are turning up the pressure on Alonso to sign or move on. According to a New York Post report Wednesday by Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman, "the Mets have let Alonso's camp know they need a decision — and soon — on whether the two sides can do a deal as they want to make sure to leave themselves enough time and options to pivot elsewhere prior to spring training."
Spring training opens in 23 days.
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If the Mets have indeed set a deadline for Alonso, the exact date is not known, according to the Post report, "but they have heightened the call for resolution one way or the other, not wanting to see other alternatives leave the marketplace while they wait for Alonso."
According to the Mets' cable TV network SNY, other than the remote possibility of a Guerrero trade, those "alternatives" include signing another free agent first baseman who has remained unemployed longer than most experts expected, Anthony Santander who smacked 44 home runs for the Baltimore Orioles last year.
Also, in what the hosts of the popular "Foul Territory" podcast speculate was a deliberate leak to put pressure on Alonso, the Mets were reported to have "checked in" on the possibility of trading for Toronto Blue Jays superstar first baseman Vladimir Gurerrero.
Mets owner Steve Cohen who in December committed to a 15-year, $765 million contract for Juan Soto, "fully supports" the hardball approach taken by Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns in the Alonso negotiations, according to the SNY report.
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